Thirty-four states, including Ohio, still employ the death penalty. Capital punishment is still one of the most hotly contested issues across the country. In the past five years, Ohio has had to switch its method of execution three times-from a three-drug concoction to a one-dose drug, Pentobarbital and now, it is in search of a new method.

The chief criticism in Ohio, beyond people's moral objections, is that there is no unified criteria for sending an inmate to death row among the 88 different counties. A crime that is committed in Cleveland could send one to death row, while that same crime committted outside of Cuyahoga County could get one life in prison. Since 1981, when the death penalty was reinstated in Ohio, forty-six out of eighty-eight counties have yet to sentence someone to death.

In an attempt to address these criticisms, the Ohio Supreme Court commissioned a task force to study the fairness and accuracy of Ohio's death penalty. Specifically, they are looking at the geographic, economic and racial disparities of those sentenced to death in Ohio. Made up of Ohio judges, sheriffs, prosecutors, law professors and senators, the task force will release its findings in the coming months.

This event will be a panel discussion about the death penalty in Ohio featuring:
Terry Collins, retired director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Timothy Young, Director, Office of the Ohio Public Defender
Nathaniel R. Jones, Attorney, Blank Rome, retired judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit